Photo-a-Day! ...for a week!

I am headed out for the week and leaving my computer behind...so, no blog posts for the next week!
I get to go visit ALLISON at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon!!! It's Mom's Weekend!! Yay! Time to pay a visit to the Kappa house! And maybe a drive over to the Oregon Coast! I am so excited!

Photo-a-Day! Yellowstone!

Spent the weekend in Yellowstone (thus, no posts...but here are three images to make up for it!)! Lots of animals out and about...from marmots to moose to grizzlies! It's a great time of year to visit the park...not a lot of crowds, the animals are enjoying the new warmth of Springtime and most of the roads are open! We had a great time...and can't wait to go back!

Photo-a-Day! Santa Fe!

I've been sorting through photos from some of our travels over the past couple of years (in anticipation of a new website coming soon!)...and came across these adobe images from a great trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico! I love the simplicity of the architectural style in the Southwest...driven by a need to keep the heat out, the adobe homes are simultaneously sleek/modern and rustic/antique. A charming combination.

Photo-a-Day! Lanterns!

I have recently become enamored with lanterns...!

Photo-a-Day! Congratulations!

...to graduates everywhere! You've worked hard, stuck with it, and succeeded! And now...your life awaits!!! (Congrats to you, Jessi! And thanks, for all the smiles!)

Photo-a-Day! Abstract!

Spent some time with my macro lens today...experimenting a little with apertures (don't forget this week's assignment!!) and light sources...and kind of liked this abstract.

Photo-a-Day! Good-bye snow!

I love snow...in the winter...well, okay, honestly, I love snow from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day! Today, however, gave us our first real peek at Springtime and, even though my skin tone looks a little like these snowmen, I am so ready for the warmth and sunshine to stay!

Photo-a-Day! Spring is here!

Enjoyed the day; warm sunshine, a beautiful and clean pond, free lunch (thanks Ashley!), meandering up the hill with the dog...and spending time with my handsome, talented hubby (who took this cool picture)!!!

Photo-a-Day! Wish I was there...

Photo-a-Day! Beautiful eyes, baby!

This little girl was such a doll...and what eyes!! :]

Photo-a-Day! Don't try this at home!

Don't try it at home...but definitely try it wherever you are traveling! I have a whole collection of these kind of abstract shots...taken from the car window...while someone else is driving!
As an experiment, and to cure the boredom of sitting in a car for hours, I matched my shutter speed with the speed we were traveling...set it on manual focus, kind of in the middle of the scene somewhere! I love it!
But really, try it...and see what you come up with!

Photography Assignment! Depth of Field!

Okay, so this particular assignment is a little bit more technical...but it is also intended to make you think about what you want your photographs to look like...and gives you another tool to help you achieve the image you envision!

So, maybe you've heard the term "depth of field"...and you may have an idea of what it means and how to manipulate it on your camera (with your aperture). (Those of you who are shooting on automatic mode, I know who you are, are going to have to put your camera in manual mode, or at least aperture priority, for this assignment!)

First, bear with me, a quick lesson on apertures...

A wide aperture (example f2.8) results in an image that is sharp around what the lens is focusing on (you pick the focal point) and blurred otherwise. Wide apertures are very useful in low light situations as it is letting more light into your lens. It is also an important tool to consider when taking action pictures as it allows you to have a much faster shutter speed (all that light coming in)...however your focal point is crucial as your depth of field is shallow!



A small aperture (example f22) results in an image that is much sharper throughout the image. Small apertures are particularly useful in landscape images, where the intent is to capture the entire scene. With small apertures, however, come much slower shutter speeds, so having a steady hold of your camera, or, even better, a tripod, is really important so as not to blur your image with camera shake.



Below are examples...the first one taken with an f1.4 aperture (shallow depth of field)...the second one taken with an f16 aperture (much greater depth of field). In both of these images my focal point remained in the same spot, on the top part of the chair. Neither of these images are "wrong", by the way...it is a creative choice, by you, the photographer...and both compositional choices are completely valid! It's just another tool to help you create the image that you want!



Now, with that lesson out of the way, on to your assignment...take and submit pairs of photographs taken with considerably different depths of field! It is a particularly important tool to understand in composing your images, whether portrait, landscape, sports or fine art work. (Oh, and be sure to tell me, when submitting your photos, what your aperture setting was on each! And don't forget...your focal point should NOT change!)

Have fun! Be creative! And feel free to call me (339-4339) if you have any questions!

Photo-a-Day! Waiting on the early train...

Sometimes the light is just right in a place...especially in the early morning hours...it makes an ordinary place feel a little dreamy...

Photo-a-Day! Yes, I'm a cat person!

Don't judge me! I do love my cats, all three of them! I also love dogs, and have a huge energetic Malamute to prove it!
This is Jackson. He's a lover. And a shedder! He doesn't judge people too harshly...if you have a lap and you are willing to have him in it, he loves you! He was my Christmas present many years ago...came scampering across the living room with a big bow around his neck! (Thanks Allison!)

Photo-a-Day! Rusted metal!

As a photographer, I am always looking for cool textures...and color! This old truck had both!

Photo-a-Day! Spring in the Tetons!

One of the many things we love about heading to Jackson for a weekend...Spring! (It doesn't look like this yet, but it will...in about a month!) Beautiful blue skies...mountains still dusted with snow...if you haven't been there...GO! It's lovely.

Photo-a-Day! Afternoon swim!

Another peek at the grizzly we hung out with in the Tetons this past weekend. It was an amazing experience to witness such an incredible animal...especially to watch him swim in the frozen waters and then hang out here, right in front of where I was standing, trying to get up! I was cheering him on, silently! He looked so small and helpless hanging there on the ice...until he got up...! ...more pictures to come!

Photo-a-Day! Support your local library!

This is the coolest entrance to a public library! Any guesses where it is?!
When I was a kid, way back when, my friends and I would spend a whole Saturday afternoon wandering around the library (in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but that's not where this door is!). Maybe it was because the winters were so cold...maybe because we were just trying to get out of shoveling the driveway...or maybe it was because we loved the way old books smell...or because it was fun to read about things you'd never imagined before (I especially loved the big coffee table art books with lots of photographs, of course!)! Do kids do that anymore? Do adults do that anymore?!
Well, this is your encouragement for the day...support your local library! Sure it's cool to read a book on a Kindle or an electronic tablet of some sort...but wouldn't it be a shame if your kids never knew the scent of old books in a library?!

Photo-a-Day! I little business promo today...!

It is getting to be that time of year...Spring (and hopefully warmer weather!) is just around the corner...and SeNioRiTis has surely set in...?! If you are looking for unique, customized graduation announcements, look no further!
I am currently booking mini-shoots for personalized senior graduation announcements!
Give me a call for details! Kris @ 339-4339!

Photography Assignment - Emotions!

I took this photo last summer with my brother-in-law, Shawn, in mind...
The emotion it represents...well, maybe DISAPPOINTMENT, FRUSTRATION, RESTRICTION?! I just thought it was a funny sign...!

Photo Assignment - Emotions!

Fun, beautiful images from Vashti Hieb! How can you not LOVE little kids' sweet faces...especially one covered in frosting (I hope that is edible!)...and one full of joy!
Vashti's words for these two images...INNOCENT (oops, maybe he wasn't supposed to be eating that?!) and BEAUTY (wow, she really is...)!
Thanks so much Vashti, for sharing these two!

Photo Assignment - Emotion!

Tyler Hieb just stopped by and told me the story behind this image...
Brandon was Tyler's cousin who, two years ago this past month, was killed in a car accident. Brandon was a good guy, who loved to play softball, golf and drink Coors beer! Occasionally, someone will anonymously leave a softball or an unopened can of beer on Brandon's head stone, in remembrance.
The word Tyler chose for this image...BLESSED...because he felt blessed himself to have known him.

Just a reminder...

For those of you who have turned in photos before...and for those who've read the blog and thought to yourself "I ought to send her a photo"...the current assignment is EMOTION!
This guy...who found us, on a beach in Santa Barbara, to be an easy mark for throwing the stick...radiates EMOTION! My choice for him...simply, HAPPY!

Photo-a-Day! The Easter Bunny!

A couple of days late...there was an Easter bunny in my front yard...probably resting from delivering all those baskets!

Photo(s)-a-Day! Tetons!

I hope you all had a great weekend and a Happy Easter! This is how I spent my Easter Sunday...in my kind of church! There is nothing like witnessing true grandeur to make you feel really small... (I couldn't chose just one...!)

I just had to share this one...

Awhile ago, I created a series of photographs/cards entitled "Here's Looking at You" (more information to come soon on the updated Mike & Kris Ryan website!). The images I used thus far were of small animals (ducks and geese, for example) all looking at ME while I was looking at them.
This picture, this animal, unnerved me a bit, as he was looking at ME while I was looking at HIM!
Mike and I spent Easter weekend in the Tetons, one of our very favorite places to spend a weekend! On Saturday afternoon, we were privileged enough to spend several hours with this big guy...a lumbering, furry, huge, meandering grizzly bear! More images to come on our website...this one is just a teaser!

Patterns!

I mentioned, in an earlier post, that my neice and I stopped by that big grove of trees between Pocatello and Boise awhile back...well, here are a couple of the PATTERN images that Gail captured on that windy, cold day!
Thanks Gail! These are great! (p.s. I still think we should visit them at night...?!!)

Photo Assignment - Emotion!

I think most will agree that this image, taken and sent in by Buck Cooper, certainly fits the bill when it comes to capturing something with EMOTION. Buck's choice...PRIDE.
Buck loves sports photography! You can often find him on the sidelines, capturing the action of a great game! You can see some of his work at http://www.coopsphotos.com/.
Thanks Buck, for participating in this assignment...and for capturing this iconic image which gives us all PRIDE.

Photo-a-Day! Take music, wherever you go!

This has continued to be one of my favorite portrait images. I know, you are thinking, you can't even see her face?!
Well, this particular teenager, whom I was lucky enough to get to know while doing her senior pictures awhile ago, was so genuinely sweet and such a lovely, unassuming young lady... And when I suggested that she play her violin down this old alleyway she just sort of lit up...and so did that alley, with music! It was fabulous! A goosebump moment!
So, for my Photo-a-Day...I hope you take beautiful music wherever you go...and wish you all 'goosebump moments' every day!